New S3 Owner Questions!

[alphaVR]

Finally bought what has been a dream car for me. Snagged a 2017 S3 Prem+ Nano Grey with a couple of mods last weekend. Loving it so far!



I have some questions about it that have been on my mind since I brought it home, though. Hoping the folks here can help me!

Headlights
One of the biggest "issues" with the car when I bought it is that the lower LED DRL lights on the passenger light aren't working. Initially I thought I'd be able to fix it with the module that's on the back side of the housing... only to find out that the lower LEDs are lit via a separate module buried within the headlight and requires a ton of work just to get to. Not ideal and not worth the time/effort.

This means I'm more or less looking at replacing the entire headlight. The job itself doesn't look too bad, but two questions come out of that.

1) Are the Valeo LED headlight assemblies as good as the OE part? Do they have the built-in headlight leveling? Anything I should be aware of with them? Understandably, I don't want to spend $2200 on a single headlight assembly just for the DRLs. $550-$750 is far more tolerable, but I don't want to sacrifice quality for the sake of cost.

2) When replacing the headlights, is there anything that must be done via VCDS/OBDEleven to code the headlights to the car?

Mirrors
I already know that to have power folding mirrors the car must have the prestige trim or a special package. That part I am fine with and may plan to retrofit power folding mirrors in the future. Simple enough. What I am curious about is how to get the passenger mirror to "dip" when in reverse. Everything I know and have read says you put the mirror knob on the mirror, then go into reverse, and the mirror will dip. Mine doesn't do that at all. In fact, if I adjust the mirror while in reverse, it stays there. Makes me think my car doesn't have this feature even though everything I've read says it should? Any clues here?

LED Interior Lights
Despite the car having most any other package I'd want (B&O, Diamond stitched seats most notably), it oddly doesn't have the convenience package that includes the nice LED interior lights. I'll probably just throw some LED bulbs in for now, but is there any real path to "retrofit" in the overhead consoles? Is it even possible, and what would it take to do?

I'm sure I'll have more questions in the coming weeks/months... but this is what had been top of mind after a 700 mile road trip home. Thanks!

[TreizeRXH]

Finally bought what has been a dream car for me. Snagged a 2017 S3 Prem+ Nano Grey with a couple of mods last weekend. Loving it so far!



I have some questions about it that have been on my mind since I brought it home, though. Hoping the folks here can help me!

Headlights
One of the biggest "issues" with the car when I bought it is that the lower LED DRL lights on the passenger light aren't working. Initially I thought I'd be able to fix it with the module that's on the back side of the housing... only to find out that the lower LEDs are lit via a separate module buried within the headlight and requires a ton of work just to get to. Not ideal and not worth the time/effort.

This means I'm more or less looking at replacing the entire headlight. The job itself doesn't look too bad, but two questions come out of that.

1) Are the Valeo LED headlight assemblies as good as the OE part? Do they have the built-in headlight leveling? Anything I should be aware of with them? Understandably, I don't want to spend $2200 on a single headlight assembly just for the DRLs. $550-$750 is far more tolerable, but I don't want to sacrifice quality for the sake of cost.

2) When replacing the headlights, is there anything that must be done via VCDS/OBDEleven to code the headlights to the car?

Mirrors
I already know that to have power folding mirrors the car must have the prestige trim or a special package. That part I am fine with and may plan to retrofit power folding mirrors in the future. Simple enough. What I am curious about is how to get the passenger mirror to "dip" when in reverse. Everything I know and have read says you put the mirror knob on the mirror, then go into reverse, and the mirror will dip. Mine doesn't do that at all. In fact, if I adjust the mirror while in reverse, it stays there. Makes me think my car doesn't have this feature even though everything I've read says it should? Any clues here?

LED Interior Lights
Despite the car having most any other package I'd want (B&O, Diamond stitched seats most notably), it oddly doesn't have the convenience package that includes the nice LED interior lights. I'll probably just throw some LED bulbs in for now, but is there any real path to "retrofit" in the overhead consoles? Is it even possible, and what would it take to do?

I'm sure I'll have more questions in the coming weeks/months... but this is what had been top of mind after a 700 mile road trip home. Thanks!

Regarding the headlights, I believe Valeo is actually the OEM supplier. So they should be the same unit minus Audi branding


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[S3DAN]

Valeo is pretty good and can be purchased on Rockauto. In order to make the headlights dip the setting must be enabled in VCDS and you have to have your mirror control knob set to the right mirror for it to automatically go down and return to its original place once you're back in D or P. Do you have VCDS or ObdEleven? OBD is cheaper but VCDS is more robust

[alphaVR]

Appreciate the quick replies.

Didn't consider the mirror dipping being a "feature" that needed to be enabled via coding. Coincidentally, I used to have a HEX-CAN USB VAG-COM cable but loaned it to a friend who conveniently "lost" it. I've borrowed one from a friend but have been on the fence about whether to get another or go with OBDeleven. The latter looks enticing for its simplicity and ease of use, but I've been a VCDS user for nearly 20 years....

[fizmixa]

Appreciate the quick replies.

Didn't consider the mirror dipping being a "feature" that needed to be enabled via coding. Coincidentally, I used to have a HEX-CAN USB VAG-COM cable but loaned it to a friend who conveniently "lost" it. I've borrowed one from a friend but have been on the fence about whether to get another or go with OBDeleven. The latter looks enticing for its simplicity and ease of use, but I've been a VCDS user for nearly 20 years....

Certain part numbers for power folding mirror aren't fully compatible with mirror dip and then returning back to its original position. The mirror will dip but I believe return to a higher position than what it was previously set at. May want to research this one a little more (may find more information on Golf GTI/R MK 7 forums).

[alphaVR]

I also meant to ask...

The car has android auto and it works but I realized that my notifications don't sound at all. Audio works otherwise, but things like navigation steps and any app notification dont. My music pauses/volume downs but nothing else. Any ideas?

[S3DAN]

That sounds like an settings issue regarding the android auto, I am not familiar with android auto so sorry I cant be of more help. There is also a company called deautokey.com who is and was VERY popular within the Audi/GTI forums, they sell plug and play LED's for our cars so you dont add any codes or headaches while looking into the retrofit solution, you might even be able to get away with bulbs only. Cheers man and you should post a picture or two of the car.

[alphaVR]

Huh... I had one in the original post, but seems the link got broken somehow.

Here she is. I'll dig into the android auto settings a bit... I definitely agree it seems like a settings issue because the MMI is attenuating music for the notification. Could also just as easily be a bug with AA.